Festering death/doom. That’s how I would describe the debut demo by Québec Canada’s Décryptal. Released on March 15 2023 on cassette tape format on ME SACO UN OJO RECORDS in conjunction with ROTTED LIFE RECORDS Sabazios Culte just straight-up crushes you under a filthy mountain of horrifying yet hypnotic riffage combined with a grotesque vocal attack.
Imagine if Incantation and Demelich had a child and then it grew up and banged Necros Christos. The resulting abomination is what we have here in Sabazios Culte. A good abomination. The best of abominations actually. This release absolutely kills. I’ve probably listened to it at least 20 times over the past few days. And there will definitely be many more play-throughs of it in my future. From the opening track “Pendu par Phobethor” with its ominous intro that doesn’t fuck around too long before it gets to the horror to the closing (and title) track “Sabazios Culte”, this beast of a release is full on unrelenting.
The song titles are all in French so I have absolutely no idea what the fuck the tracks are all about. Well I guess I can kind of make out “Virulence Ectoplasmique”. Ectoplasmic Virulence? I don’t fucking know, whatever, it adds to the mystique a bit. While I’ve been listening to Sabazios Culte I’ve often found myself completing zoning out into a sort of trance state, imagining ethereal and obscure scenes and landscapes. Just like the cover art actually.
Don’t get me wrong, absolutely love this release, but there’s not really anything new or revolutionary going on here. Décryptal and Sabazios Culte is just these four dude’s take on a tried and true approach to death metal. Adding their own little flair here and there. And it fucking works. I’m a sucker for that anyways. I want to hear more death metal like this! From everyone! So if you’re like me you should definitely give their streams a listen and pick up the tape on March 15th 2023.
Also make sure to check out Brian Parker’s review of another recent release from Me Saco Un Ojo